


be a burning star if it takes all night

by sympathy_for_hordak (sparrow0)



Series: hollow point smile [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Ableism, Aftermath of Torture, Background Adora/Catra/Glimmer, Beast Island (She-Ra), Canon-Typical Violence, Entrapta Loses Her Temper, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reconditioning, Season/Series 04 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-30 17:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21431740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrow0/pseuds/sympathy_for_hordak
Summary: Glimmer brings Entrapta some data. Entrapta leaves Glimmer on read. Entrapta loses her temper. Glimmer miscalculates. This is the third part of a series and might make more sense after the first two, but it's also less gloomy than they were.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Series: hollow point smile [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543651
Comments: 24
Kudos: 118





	1. Entrapta Leaves Glimmer On Read

Glimmer appeared in Bright Moon's gardens. Someone said her name. "Where's Entrapta?" she demanded. 

He said something else she didn't care about. "I must find Entrapta. Where is she?" Glimmer repeated. 

There was a flash of light. Her mind cleared, and she recognized the man in the garden. Her eyes filled with tears. "Dad? Are you real?" 

"I am. Glimmer, my baby girl, my Queen," he answered, slowly moving towards her, hands visible. "I have missed you so much for so long." 

Glimmer wrapped her arms around herself. "What happened?" 

"I wasn't killed, all those years ago. I was sent to Beast Island, and your friends brought me home when they rescued Princess Entrapta. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." 

"That spell - what did you just do?" 

"A basic charm for removing compulsions. Who did that to you?"

"It wasn't her fault! Everything's been so awful. I risked everyone and used Bright Moon as bait and lied to Scorpia to destroy the Horde and Horde Prime is so much worse and now they're being tortured and I - I don't know what to do. She practically asked me to kill her and she rescued me and I kissed her and she made me knock her out and leave her there." 

Slowly, Micah rested a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I'm here, Queen Glimmer. Your friends are here. Princess Scorpia and your agent Double Trouble have spoken with me. What needs to be done?"

"Call a meeting of the Princess Alliance for noon tomorrow. I need to recharge and sleep, and I don't want to tell this story more than once. Find Entrapta. Tell her she has to attend. Lord Hordak needs her help." 

Micah blinked. "Was not the entire purpose of the Princess Alliance defeating Lord Hordak?" 

"Yeah, well. Horde Prime makes him look about as dangerous as Princess Perfuma's party kale." 

~~~

Orders issued, Glimmer napped from midday to sundown. 

When she woke, Glimmer's guard reported that nobody in Bright Moon had seen Entrapta in the two days since Glimmer's disappearance. Entrapta hadn't even tried to reunite with Scorpia or Emily. 

Glimmer went to Scorpia's room. "Hi, Scorpia. Do you have a moment?" 

"Sure. I know you said you'd explain tomorrow but I gotta ask. Is Catra - is she okay?" 

Glimmer sighed. " She's alive, and Horde Prime's not going to kill her, but, uh. There's some problems. We have to find Entrapta, they're going to need her help." 

"They? Lord Hordak's in trouble, too? Isn't that guy his brother?" 

"I'm sorry, Scorpia. Light Hope used me and I used you and I would have done anything to crush the Horde and Lord Hordak - " Glimmer broke off, shuddering. "I don't wanna talk about it. I can teleport anywhere on Etheria. You're coming with me. You understand Emily. Figure out where we should look for Entrapta first." 

Emily beeped and whistled, and Scorpia nodded. 

"Okay. The last people who saw Entrapta were Bow and Swift Wind, and she was in the Fright Zone. She used to spend all her time in Lord Hordak's Sanctum - the place where the portal was. Let's go." 

Scorpia held out a pincer, and Glimmer took it. 

~~~

"What happened? This is the Sanctum, but it's a disaster," Scorpia mused. 

"Intruders! State your purpose!" demanded a Horde guard. 

"Oh, hi! We're looking for Entrapta. Have you seen her? Lord Hordak needs her help," Glimmer explained. 

The guard scoffed. "If he's weak enough to need help, that's his problem. Entrapta and Hordak's other pet aren't here." He levelled his shock stick at Glimmer. "Leave, now." 

"Okay, we're going. Where now?" Glimmer asked Scorpia. 

"I guess...Dryl? She liked Dryl." 

They vanished in a burst of sparkling light. 

~~~

Dryl was abandoned, eerily silent, every bot in Entrapta's lab inactive. Near the entrance, they found a single responsive bot. 

"I am a messenger," she announced. "State name and affiliation." 

"Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, leader of the Princess Alliance." 

"Located message for: Princess Alliance and Lord Hordak's Horde." 

The bot projected an image of Entrapta onto the wall behind them.  _ " _ Hi! I know you both wanted me to stay with you, but I made a promise to a friend to go back to Beast Island. I've already taken a transport from the Fright Zone, sorry. I know Beast Island is dangerous, but I was really close to fixing it before. If you don't hear from me in a year, I probably haven't made it. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help Lord Hordak. I miss him." 

"Next stop: Beast Island. Ready?" Glimmer asked. 

Scorpia nodded.

~~~

Glimmer and Scorpia appeared on Beast Island's shore. 

"Princess Entrapta?" Glimmer called. "Are you here?" 

A bot rolled forward. "Greetings! I am a part of Princess Entrapta's Beast Island Management System. Please do not travel far from the water, as the island is still dangerous. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Yes. This is very urgent. Princess Entrapta, this is Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon. You are invited to a meeting of the Princess Alliance in Bright Moon at noon tomorrow. I can teleport you there if you want. I was on Horde Prime's ship and - Lord Hordak is - he needs your help. We'll wait here for thirty minutes. Please, please respond."

"Confirm message completion?" 

"I confirm! It's done! Send it already!" Glimmer snapped. "I mean. Please. It's important. 

"Sent." The bot paused. "Message received by Beast Island Central System." There was a longer pause. "Message has been heard by recipient." A brief pause. "I have received a response. Shall I play it?" 

"Yes," Glimmer answered. 

The bot spoke with Entrapta's voice, fast and nervous. "Hi Glimmer! Your timing couldn't be worse! The entire island is in a really, really extremely delicate place. I can't leave, and I can't risk you reactivating any of the subsystems by moving through them. Give this bot whatever data you can about the problem you're having, and I'll retrieve it as soon as possible. I'll try to get to your meeting, if it's safe, but...I don't know how much longer this is going to take." 

"Message ends," the bot added in their own voice. 

"Ugh. Okay. Can you take another message?" Glimmer asked the bot. 

"Yes. Begin." 

"At the end of our last battle against the Horde, Horde Prime pulled Hordak, Catra, and I through a portal to his ship. Hordak was injured and Horde Prime did something terrible to him, to his mind. 

"Catra and I found some information about Horde Prime's Horde. It's all in this data pad I'm giving your bot, and I have a bunch of copies. It's - bad. 

"Catra gave me Hordak's crystal and sent me to find you. She told me to tell you she's sorry. 

"I brought Scorpia with me to look for you, and we got your messages at Dryl. Scorpia, anything to add?" Glimmer asked. 

"I miss you, Entrapta. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Catra, and I'm sorry I didn't tell Lord Hordak the truth. Double Trouble told Hordak Catra lied to him about you, in a way that destabilized him, as part of Glimmer's plan to defeat the Horde. I hope you're okay. I took Emily with me when I left the Horde, and we've been staying at Bright Moon, which she really likes. Lots of new stuff there. I hope you can join us someday." 

Scorpia looked at Glimmer. "Confirm message completion," Glimmer said. 

"Sent." The bot paused. "Message received by Beast Island Central System." There was a longer pause. "Message has been heard by recipient." A very long pause. "I have been informed there will be no response. Please provide the items and depart."

Glimmer handed the bot the pad and the crystal, took Scorpia's pincer in her hand, and left. 


	2. Entrapta Loses Her Temper

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour zero," Entrapta announced, voice cold with fury. "I have several updates to my existing mental models.

"One: the Horde never deserved my support. The Horde served an unstable man who planned to hand this world to a total jerk, and now they're scattered and serving themselves. 

"Two: The Princess Alliance does not deserve my support. They stand behind Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, who prioritizes other princesses and only other princesses, who used Catra and Double Trouble to hurt Hordak, and who was happy to save herself and abandon Hordak to Horde Prime and Catra. 

"Three: Horde Prime, Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, and Catra will all pay for what they've done. 

"Four: Hordak is less likely to survive with each passing hour. Horde Prime is trying to destroy Hordak's mind and Catra betrayed him, took the crystal, and probably lied to Queen Glimmer about it. If Catra's sorry now, she's only sorry she didn't get what she wanted.

"Five: Horde Prime absolutely cannot be permitted to succeed. Argh! If Lord Hordak had told me any of this before his capture, we could have planned - I could have prepared - I did not think he was in danger. It did not occur to me to try to keep him safe. 

"Six: Lord Hordak cannot be expected to preserve his own well-being. He will not try to protect himself from Horde Prime because he has no expectation that he can succeed. He had only begun to realize he was trained from birth to be used as a - a weapon by his creator. 

"Seven: Bright Moon has a functional spaceship. It may require Adora to function. Adora's functionality is limited since she broke the sword. She refused to be used in the Heart. She might help willingly. 

"Eight: Adora cares about the Princess Alliance. If I can believably threaten them, she'll help me reluctantly. 

"Nine: I've been trying to restore Beast Island gently, without damaging it, without building anything that might be a liability later. That no longer matters in the slightest. I am going to take a new approach here." 

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour eight. The Beast Island control systems have entirely yielded to me. I have recovered the data pad and the crystal. I've ordered as many climbing, walking, and crawling beings onto the transport as it can carry without sinking. I'll be riding on one of the smaller flyers. These creatures must be animated by the tech - there's not enough flesh left for most of them to survive normally. We'll strike at what's left of Salineas, first. I'll try to continue reading on the way. 

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour eleven. Salineas was a walk in the park. Apparently living beings other than me find my forces viscerally terrifying, and their defenses were already compromised by the Horde. I ordered the transport back to Beast Island to collect more beasts. I cannot possibly have enough firepower, but I'm going to keep working on it."

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour seventeen. I've reclaimed Dryl, reactivated all fabrication units, and ordered them to rebuild Salineas, reinforce Dryl, and make more battle bots and fabrication units. Again, there's no way this is going to be enough. I can't really afford to stop, but the snippets of the Horde Prime data I've absorbed so far are deeply alarming."

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour twenty-three. I read the entire data pad. I have further updates. 

"One: That clone I researched with may react unpredictably to being named, and has requested that no name be used. 

"Two: Almost every being conditioned thoroughly enough gains the ability to condition others. That clone arrived on Etheria with that power and taught it to Shadow Weaver, who in turn taught Catra, Glimmer, and maybe others. Shadow Weaver is famously eager to collect any kind of new magic, especially mental magic. That clone could have conditioned me anytime he wanted, and I never would have seen it coming or been able to stop him. It's very likely that clone has been trying to do as little harm as possible this entire time. 

"Three: Any of Shadow Weaver's students must be expected to be able and willing to use this horrible torture power. Ensure Adora's support on the ship without letting her get physically close enough to try it. 

"Four: I am no longer confused about that clone's strong reactions, particularly his responses to anyone moving towards his shoulders, neck, or face. On the contrary, I am baffled by his rapidly increasing willingness to let me touch him. 

"Five: He is in even more danger and even less likely to protect himself than I had feared. There is no time to waste.

"Six: Outcomes for already-conquered worlds offered to Horde Prime are superior and involve a much smaller fraction of the population being conditioned than worlds Horde Prime intervenes on directly. Assuming Horde Prime finding Etheria was inevitable - as that clone believed - everyone here would have been strictly better off had that clone's conquest been an unqualified success. He was doing his best to save Etheria. He should have said so."

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour twenty-eight. I've taken over the Fright Zone. I expected it to be harder. I found Imp and now he won't let me out of his sight. He's the first entity I've encountered who has expressed zero fear of the beasts. It's cute: they're massive and roughly ninety-seven percent dead, he's tiny and excitable, they treat him like an equal. New groups keep arriving from Beast Island. What's left of Lord Hordak's forces have agreed to support me. 

"I have discovered a complication: there's basically no food. The Fright Zone has never been self-supporting, and in the recent nonsense that's become a crisis: there's about a week's worth of raw materials for brown ration bars left, and nothing else. 

"Reminder: your allies haven't read the data pad, and they're not going to. Do not panic them by revealing what's coming. Do not threaten or shout at them anytime they use that clone's name. None of that is constructive. 

"Alwyn is too far off. We march on Plumeria at dawn." 

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour twenty-nine. Mermista turned up and requested an audience with me. She said my bots are doing a better job patching up Salineas than the Princess Alliance could, and she'll 'do whatever' for unrestricted access to her runestone. She's sworn fealty to me, and agreed to talk to other princesses on my behalf. She also advised me to recruit Double Trouble, as this is 'the most extra thing' that Mermista has ever seen, and they'd appreciate it. 

"Horde Prime's fleet are still hovering overhead, between us and the stars. I can't tell if they're getting closer. We're nowhere close to ready. Uniting the world and going on the offensive is our only real chance. I'm giving Mermista two hours past dawn to bring me Perfuma, and then we're going over there.

"Reminder: Try not to be unnecessarily menacing or ominous."

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour thirty. Perfuma joined. Nobody from the Horde has eaten anything like Plumerian food before, it's incredibly funny. There's loads of it, though, so that's one problem down, all the others to go. Perfuma's pretty confident nobody in the Princess Alliance but Shadow Weaver had the faintest idea about conditioning even existing, before Glimmer's meeting.

"Micah taught most of the princesses a magic spell to remove compulsions. I must have whatever data they collect in attempts to repair conditioned beings. I still need the spaceship, and I probably also need Adora, even though she's the only princess incapable of doing the compulsion-ending spell because she's not Etherian. 

"Perfuma and Mermista think I should try 'asking politely' and not threatening to flatten all who oppose me with my enormous, undead abominations. It's way faster, though, and I'm starting to think the fleeing and screaming in terror are never gonna get old." 

~~~

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour forty. Sea Hawk, Adora, and Bow decided I must be mistreating Mermista and Perfuma, and attempted a rescue. I interviewed each of them separately. Sea Hawk has no idea what's happening. 

"Adora and Bow independently confirmed that Glimmer read the data and talked them into reading it, too. Adora had a lot of things to say about Light Hope and Horde Prime, she wants to help, and she's certain she was never conditioned. Adora doesn't know if she can be conditioned, since she's a First One. I worry we're going to find out. 

"Adora also claims Glimmer told her and Micah - and only them - a more complete story about her time on Horde Prime's ship. Adora's version is that Double Trouble's revelation prompted Hordak to attack Catra. Catra took the crystal to defend herself before Glimmer arrived, protected Glimmer from Horde Prime, and is trying to help that clone endure reconditioning. Catra tried to help Glimmer, whose defenses against conditioning were nonexistent, and then forced Glimmer to escape so that Glimmer couldn't further endanger Catra and that clone.

"I wish I had some way to corroborate Adora's version, short of capturing and questioning more people. It'd make things a lot simpler if nearly everyone could be trusted, and my only real target was Horde Prime.

"Adora and Bow never used that clone's name, either. I've allowed Bow and Sea Hawk to come and go as they please. 

"Tomorrow morning, we're taking the ship." 


	3. Entrapta Loses Her Temper, Part Two

"Begin recording for Project Lab Partner, hour fifty. We haven't taken the ship. Horde Prime sent a clone to each of the runestones tonight, about two hours ago. The incident at the Pearl resolved almost immediately - I don't think that clone expected it to be guarded so well. That prisoner is being taken to the Fright Zone now. 

"The clone at the Black Garnet was more successful - he attacked a soldier and made it into the vents. The soldier's injuries were not serious, and they are expected to fully recover. Imp and I know the vents better than the clone, so he didn't get far. He's in a Fright Zone prison cell 19-C now. 

"I sent a number of my forces, including the princesses, to defend the other runestones and bring me any captives. I want to see what the spell does! But I'll get better data if we do it when they're awake, and I have other sub-projects. So much of the Fright Zone is damaged. Witness statements indicate almost all these blasts came from the cannon he built and powered with the crystal. I hope I get to see it. It's clearly an excellent cannon.

"I have to keep rebuilding." 

~~~

Glimmer appeared in what had been Hordak's throne room, and dropped an unconscious clone at the bottom of the staircase. "Entrapta!" she called. "This guy showed up at the Moonstone and attacked my dad. Mermista said you had theories about fixing them. Do it! Do it now!"

Entrapta swept out of her lab, then gestured at the nearest beast. "Hi! Can you stick this clone in a cell for me? Thanks!" She perched on one arm of the throne as her creature carefully lifted the clone in his teeth and trotted away. 

Glimmer's fists shook. "Entrapta, explain yourself." 

"Hmm, you know what? No, I don't think so. This is my project, my kingdom, and my throne room. You don't get to leave my lab partner behind and then show up and tell me what to do. Thanks for the prisoner. Bye." Entrapta swung off the throne and turned towards her lab. 

"Entrapta! Slow down and listen to me. That's not what happened. Catra forced me to leave. You need to give back everyone from the Princess Alliance you've taken from me."

Entrapta turned around, rising up on her hair to tower over Glimmer. "Give. Back. Really? The other princesses aren't your tools, and I'm not physically locking them up." She looked up, to something in the ceiling beams and wires that Glimmer couldn't make out. "Imp! Tell Adora I need her." 

Something scurried off. 

"You're a scientist, Entrapta. Think more than one step ahead. You're repeating his mistakes, right now."

"Care to elaborate on that hypothesis, Your Majesty?" Entrapta had produced her violet scalpel from somewhere. 

Glimmer forced herself not to react. Something really big moved behind her, and Glimmer didn't turn around. She kept looking up at Entrapta, slowly raising her open, empty hands.

"You have to tell people things! Trust us with your scary lesser-evil plans so I can help you! I am trying to be your friend! I want you to get him back! But I feel like I  _ get _ how the Princess Alliance started better than I ever did before!" 

Entrapta stopped, breathing hard, looking down at her blade and the princess and her monsters. 

A bot in the corner of the room, behind the throne, began to beep.

Entrapta turned to him and beeped back, putting her weapon away. 

The bot played a recording. "Hi, uh, I don't know if this thing is on. I'm from the Kingdom of Snows. I've been instructed to deliver my message for Princess Entrapta to this robot near our border with Dryl. Princess Frosta writes 'I tried Micah's spell and the clone won't stop freaking out. I think he's in a lot of pain. Somebody come help.' Princess Entrapta, I await your instructions." The bot beeped again. 

Entrapta beeped, then said "Hi, I've gotten your message, thanks. We'll probably get to your princess before you. Wait at this location until three messenger bots are ready to return with you. As a demonstration of my gratitude, the Kingdom of Snows is invited to use my messaging infrastructure. Horde Prime must not succeed! Frosta must not delay our operations again by sending people where signals would do, or by experimenting without appropriate precautions." Entrapta beeped again. 

Glimmer frowned at her. 

"What's wrong now?" Entrapta demanded. 

"You were actually trying to be nice there, weren't you?" Glimmer pressed her face into her palms. "Was your diplomacy tutor a heap of scrap metal?" 

"Pretty close! I have just been informed about the existence of diplomacy tutors! I'll definitely look into that, eventually, but I've got an extensive project backlog," Entrapta said. 

"Great," Glimmer said. 

Imp flew in and chittered something at Entrapta. 

She frowned. "Yes, Adora was authorized to be asleep. I didn't realize I'd require her help until the moment I asked you."

Imp made some more sounds. 

"She was sleeping where? Oh, Imp, you're right, that was a huge error. My bad. Okay." 

Entrapta beeped at her bot again. "This is a reminder to my living allies, especially my Horde-trained living allies, that most of you don't have work schedules. That means you allocate your own cycles and rest when and where you want, not that you do stuff until someone remembers to tell you to stop. I don't remember to tell myself to stop most of the time!" She cackled and beeped again. It was not a reassuring sound. 

"I think that one might be a you and Adora problem, not a Horde problem," Glimmer commented. "Scorpia slept when she felt like it as soon as she joined us." 

Imp chittered at Entrapta.

"No, Imp has access to the vents and the security cameras, and he says it's like a quarter of the former Horde and a handful of people from everywhere else." 

Entrapta paused for more chittering. "Sorry, Glimmer, you're partially right, I got used to working here, and then on Beast Island, and apparently that clone and Adora and I are significantly worse at this 'periodic rest cycle' thing than everybody else." Entrapta used her hair tendrils to make air quotes. 

Imp looked at Glimmer, raising one hand. She raised a hand back, uncertainly, and Imp darted up and tapped her hand with his. 

Entrapta beamed. "Oh, that's so cute! You're the third person he's high-fived!" 

"Thank you," Glimmer said to them both. 

"Glimmer!" Adora called, running in and flinging her arms around her pink-haired queen. "I'm so glad you're here. What did you need, Entrapta?" 

"Oh, I was going to ask you how to effectively collaborate with Queen Glimmer, but I think I figured that one out. I have since been notified that Princess Frosta needs help with the clone she captured. Glimmer, could you please take the three of us there?"

~~~

When they arrived at Frosta's castle, they were directed to a guest bedroom. 

As they approached, Entrapta was briefly convinced that her lab partner was near, so familiar were the small, pained sounds. The clone was curled up on the bed, clutching his head between his hands. His hair was white, his robe was white, and he wore no armor. Frosta sat at his side. 

"I'm sorry, I think I messed up the spell, please, make it better," Frosta said, turning towards Entrapta.

Entrapta put a finger to her lips. "Shhh, focus, I have a theory." 

Frosta was surrounded by blue light. Glimmer began to glow pink. Adora started to glow gold, then looked down and yelped. 

"What was that? What did you do?" she demanded. "It can't be happening. She-ra is gone." 

Entrapta clapped. "That's where you're wrong! I'm testing a theory. Plumeria has dozens of legends of the She-ra, some of which predate First Ones contact. You almost certainly can heal without the sword, because you're still connected to its runestone, which you might not even need. If my hypothesis is correct, you need to be on Etheria, with Etherian helpers, to cause the light show. With it, you can channel spectacular amounts of power." 

"Okay. Okay, I can do this." Adora took Glimmer's hand, and the three princesses began to glow again. Entrapta slowly lit up, too, in a deep violet. 

Adora reached towards the clone, and golden-white light poured from her hands, covering his body. He turned towards them, his eyes the vivid blue of a desert sky. 

The magic light faded. Adora stared at her hands. "I didn't transform," she said numbly. 

The clone gasped, scrambling off the bed to kneel before Adora. "It is as foretold! You are the One Who Did Not Transform. The precognitives of Teleria said you'd demonstrate your power and identify yourself in that way. You are the warriors and this is the world that will conquer the Horde. How may this one serve?" 

Adora stepped back. "Oh no. No, thank you, I have had enough of destiny. I'm not trying to conquer the Horde. I'm trying to save the universe, and also rescue some people from Horde Prime." 

"The universe needs you to take those present when you did not transform before the throne of Horde Prime. No one else can stop him!" 

"Okay. How?" Adora asked. "His ship is defended by hundreds of others. We have one ship that we don't really get how to fly." 

"That's fine. Every deployed clone has a spinal tracker. At this one's signal, the capital ship will summon everything in about a ten-meter radius from me."

"We're going to need all the help we can get. Let's do this from the Fright Zone," Glimmer suggested. 

"Indeed! I'm bringing Stacy and Jennifer," Entrapta added. "They've got the best claws and horns in that size category."

Adora stared at her. "You use names for your undead monsters, and not your - uh - lab partner." 

"Is that weird? Why is that weird? That clone of Horde Prime asked for it. In writing, even. One refers to entities with their preferred form of address, always, that's like the seventh rule of polite interaction. Sixth?" Entrapta stretched a hair tendril. "No, seventh." 

"Oh no. How do you remember more actual etiquette than Adora," Glimmer moaned. 

"That stuff's easy," Entrapta answered, "it's just a bunch of rules and protocols. It's practically code!" 

"We can have whatever this conversation is later. We have to get back to the Fright Zone and marshal our forces for this strike. The faster we go, the lower the odds we'll be expected," Adora said. 

"Beings of this world can give themselves whatever designation they want and the rest of you will use it, truly?" the clone asked. 

"Truly, my new friend. You can choose or ask for a name, if you want. We're not  _ them _ . Those who dare misname you are the lowest scum and they will face my wrath!" Entrapta's hair had curled into shaking fists. 

"Um, Entrapta," Glimmer said cautiously. "You sound  _ exactly _ like your lab partner. Have you tried turn that down, like, at all?" 

"Yes, I've been trying! I created several reminders! But I'm so angry and I'm so busy and I'm gaining power but it's nowhere near enough, it's not going to be enough, I have to stop Prime and I can't."

"You're spectacular. After you are victorious, can - maybe - can this clone stay here? Please?" 

"Of course! We've got loads of space!" Entrapta declared. 

Adora and Glimmer looked at each other. "How, um, how many brothers do you have?" Adora asked. 

"Five million, three hundred fifty seven thousand, and three hundred and sixteen." 

"I'll have to talk to Mermista, there's no way her people are making enough hair dye and black eye makeup," Entrapta said. 

There was a moment of shocked silence. 

"What? My lab partner wished to distance himself from Prime! We received an anthropology paper about it." 

Glimmer blinked. "That's what that accursed thing was about?"

"Huh, so, they're clones. This is what he'd look like without that stuff?" Adora asked. 

"Yeah, this is what all the others look like." Glimmer said. "I thought it was the defect." 

"Oh, undying one," the blue-eyed clone gasped. "He's defective. You're doing this because Horde Prime located and reconditioned a  _ defective _ clone. They're barely functional! They're only utilized as spare parts half the time! What use could you have for him?"

"What use?" Entrapta's hands and hair tendrils clenched into fists. "We don't  _ do _ utility like Prime. It doesn't matter if it takes months for him to come into our lab, or if he doesn't want to study anything ever again. That brother of yours wanted to be my friend. He helped me, he let me help him, and he was as kind to me as he could be. He did his best to save this world, and to assist people he had every reason to believe wanted him destroyed. He was - getting better. I'm going to save him and I'm going to crush Horde Prime!" There was a dramatic flash of lightning. 

"Oh. Great," Glimmer said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The clone population was the Ao3 total works count when that line was first drafted. If you're going to make wild guesses for your space fantasy, they may as well be fun wild guesses. 
> 
> 'Teleria' was a semi-intentional Silmarillion reference. 
> 
> Re: cosmetics, Hordak "really is the rebellious little brother going through a goth phase" according to this canon-ish [Q&A with his designer.](https://www.patreon.com/posts/she-ra-season-4-31340162)
> 
> Semi-relatedly, [this happened,](https://riotfest.org/2019/10/mcr-reunites/) which is why I have been listening so much to the source of the series titles. 
> 
> In other "I'm in this picture and I do not like it" news, Noelle Stevenson Tweeted [this](https://twitter.com/Gingerhazing/status/1194803234252054529).


	4. Glimmer Miscalculates

They arrived before Horde Prime's throne with a plan. The princesses began to experiment with their powers, up in orbit above Etheria. 

Frosta had her gloves of ice. Red-black energy crackled around Scorpia. Mermista found a pipe she could burst, and began calling forth water. Perfuma grew her vines. 

Glimmer flung a magical barrier over Horde Prime. All of the green-eyed clones collapsed, and Horde Prime exploded. 

Thirty seconds after the Princesses arrived, the fight was over. 

Adora and the Etherians slowly stopped glowing. 

"I'm sorry," Glimmer said to Entrapta, "I wasn't trying to do that. I wanted to let you question him! I tried to break his connections to his clones so he couldn't call reinforcements."

Something began to chime softly.

"The disruption of so many links at once must have caused a massive release of energy," the blue-eyed clone explained. "Dispose of the body." 

One of the clones carried Horde Prime's remains away. 

"Now what?" Adora asked. 

A horde of identical white-robed, green-eyed clones knelt before Glimmer.

"I present to you Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, the Princess Alliance, and the Horde," Entrapta declared, perched on a beast's bony shoulder. 

"What. No," Glimmer said. 

Entrapta ticked off the possibilities on her fingers. "No as in you didn't kill him, no as in I got your titles wrong, or no as in you want to name someone else heir to the Horde and transfer power to them." Entrapta used a pair of hair tendrils to pick Glimmer up and set her on Horde Prime's charred, bloody throne. "Hmm, this thing is way too big for you, and the colors do you no favors. It'll have to be rebuilt." 

The chimes became more frequent. Glimmer looked down at Horde Prime's desk. "What is this number? Why is it making that noise as it goes up?"

"It's your communications hub, Your Imperial Majesty," the blue-eyed clone told her smoothly. "Those are unread messages. Disconnection from our former leader has caused confusion and dismay. How you will you prioritize the reconditioning?" 

"What." Glimmer looked frozen. 

"You surely intend to ensure the minds of the Horde are yours. Will you begin with the oldest? The highest ranked? The alphanumerically earliest designations?" 

"No. No reconditioning!" she ordered. "Stop all the reconditioning right now. Tell all the clones to stop conquering or hurting other people and await further instruction." 

"Your will is ours." The clone bowed, sat on the floor beside the desk, and began to type. There was a sort of chirp. "Your Imperial Majesty, you have an incoming call from Prince Adam of Eternia, flagged 'highest priority.'" 

"Okay, um, show it to me," Glimmer said. 

There was a broad-shouldered young man with blond hair on the screen behind the throne. "Horde Prime," he snarled. "My preparations are finally complete! Today, you pay the price for killing my twin sister, Adora, and capturing my parents. In a moment, I'll activate this apparatus and eliminate your whole clone army!" He reached for a lever. 

"No!" Adora screamed. "Don't do it! I'm alive, I'm here, I'm - fine! Horde Prime was using some kind of magic control on his clones and we just stopped it half a minute ago! Stop your weapon! Stop the machine!"

Prince Adam was staring at her, open-mouthed. 

Entrapta dropped behind Adora and seized her with her hair tendrils. "If you use the weapon," she snarled, "you will never know peace. I will hunt you to the ends of the universe and I will take bloody vengeance on everyone you've ever cared about. I'll start with her!" Entrapta pressed a scalpel to Adora's throat. 

"No," Adora said gently. "Please, Entrapta, no. Let me go and put that thing away. Horde Prime is dead. I am not. You, Prince Adam of Eternia, are going to dismantle that apparatus extremely carefully and injure exactly zero clones of Horde Prime with it. You are especially not going to do anything to harm that clone who possibly caused me to survive to adulthood and who is probably Entrapta's weird alien boyfriend. Princess Entrapta, I want you to find Catra and your guy and bring them here, so we can take them back to Etheria. Please do your very best not to destroy anybody. Go."

"Okay." Entrapta released Adora, leapt back onto her creature, and rode out of the room. 

Adam stammered. "You're going to permit that obviously feral mad scientist on the zombie dinosaur to team up with a clone of Horde Prime? Immediately after she threatened to kill you? What in She-ra's name are you thinking?"

Glimmer giggled, turning the throne to look at the screen. "Oh wow, he said She-ra like we say First Ones, that's funny, because you're both of those things." Once started, she didn't seem able to stop. 

Prince Adam put his face in his hands. "Can you please say something vaguely reassuring about how you're not all brainwashed lunatics?"

Glimmer and Frosta looked at each other. Adora shook her head. "I know some of us want to answer that in unison with 'something vaguely reassuring about how you're not all brainwashed lunatics,' but we are resisting the temptation," Adora announced, "because we are not those things and I'm not letting our inner junior cadets make this an even worse incident. I'm sorry about all of this. We've had a very challenging month." 

"Sorry," Glimmer added. "A ton of horrible stuff happened, and then I killed Horde Prime, and now apparently I'm in charge of five million something clones." 

"So are you willing to release my parents? And also stop trying to conquer the universe?" 

"Yes! I didn't know I had your parents and I never started trying to conquer the universe! I mean, not on purpose. Uh, how much of it do we control now, anyhow? And how many prisoners do I have?" Glimmer asked. 

~~~

Approximately five days and seven hours since Light Hope had brought Etheria into the wider universe, and approximately five weeks since Catra had activated the portal, Entrapta found her lab partner. 

Entrapta looked through the energy barrier, into the cell. 

Catra's uniform was white, with a black Horde symbol spread across her back. Her fur was clean and neatly groomed. Catra's mask had been repainted a glossy white, and there was a shock stick at her hip. 

There was a clone of Horde Prime lying face-down on the floor before Catra. His hair was white, his shorts were white, and his face was pale. The white patterns on his arms and back were instantly recognizable. Catra bent, reaching for his face. 

Entrapta deactivated the energy barrier, grabbed the shock stick, and slammed it into Catra's chest. Entrapta pushed Catra as she collapsed, so she'd land in a corner and not on him. 

She knelt, and reached for the clone very gently. He flinched when a hair tendril touched his back. His green eyes looked up at her for a moment. 

The clone turned away. "Leave. While you can."

"No." Entrapta was shaking. "Horde Prime is gone. You're mine. Take slow breaths for me, okay? Just breathe. I'm here. Don't try to do anything else. I have you." Entrapta kept trying to keep him calm as she lifted him and connected the bits of his armor she had - spinal port covers, proximal and distal back plates, upper and lower chest plates, collar over all of those. 

"It's okay, keep breathing" she urged. "We're almost done." Entrapta turned the clone to face her, and installed the crystal in the center of the collar.

His eyes glowed red. He sobbed. "Take it out. Go. This can't hide. Not worth it. Go now."

She snarled, hands and hair tendrils grabbing him tightly. "One, we are in no danger whatsoever. Two, I make the decisions about what I value."

Catra's eyes opened. "What's happening?" she slurred. 

"Take it, take her, and flee," the clone whispered, eyes squeezed shut. 

"One more time, I'm safe," Entrapta insisted, softer. "She's safe. You're safe. It's over. Horde Prime is dead. He'll never hurt you again. The princesses are in his throne room. Do you two want to see them now, or spend a little bit longer on the floor of this cell?" 

"How am I supposed to go there?" Catra asked, trying to push herself up onto her elbows. "I can't walk." 

"Hey, Stacy, get in here," Entrapta said. An elongated skull on a longneck peered through the doorway. 

Catra shrieked. "What in the name of Horde Prime the Undying is that?"

"Oh, Catra," Entrapta said. "Prime  _ has _ died. Stacy's a big mostly-dead lizard thing. Remember how you sent me to Beast Island? Thanks, I got a remarkably large quantity of these reanimated beasts out of it. Stacy is one of the smaller ones."

"Oh, good," Catra said weakly. "Just what you needed." 

Stacy extended one claw towards her, and Catra shrank back. "No, help, Entrapta, I don't want her to touch me, I - I can walk! I might be a minute." Catra touched the clone's arm. "Hey, you, do you want me to stay?" 

His fingers moved on Catra's arm in a way Entrapta couldn't see. 

Catra crawled forward and pulled herself up on the doorframe. "Oh, Entrapta, two taps is yes, one is no. You better be telling the truth about that death, because if the assessors find out, we're seriously doomed."

"Thank you, Catra, we'll catch up to you." Entrapta took his hand. "Is this easier than talking?" Two taps, brief and light, without making eye contact. "Still used to being watched, huh?" Two taps. "Catra's really been helping you, this whole time." Two taps. 

Entrapta hesitated. "Is it okay that I'm holding you?" Two taps. "Can, um, can I hold you closer?" A pause, then two taps. 

Entrapta shifted, pulling her former lab partner into her arms, resting his head against one shoulder and his knees against the other. She supported his thighs and back with tendrils of hair, and lifted his arms to wrap around her neck. 

"I'm sorry," she said, "most of your armor was too wrecked to reattach. You're not going to be able to walk back to the others." She swallowed. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to find you." 

He tapped her shoulder once, firmly. 

"I am! I'm not very good at people. At friends. I didn't try to leave Beast Island until Bow and Adora came and found me. I should have been at your side." 

He tapped her shoulder once. 

"Okay. I don't want to keep the other princesses waiting too long. There's a bunch of ways I could move you, if you're ready. Do you want me to bring you back to the throne room like this, princess carry?" 

He tapped her shoulder twice, and she stood slowly, using her tendrils to move their bodies as gently as possible. 

~~~

As the light of the portal receded and Bright Moon's walls appeared around them, Entrapta felt the clone in her arms relax. His breathing got deeper and slower, and he gazed up at her. "This is real," he said quietly. "We're really going home."

"I can take you back to your sanctum," Glimmer offered, "but I have to be touching both of you." 

"That is acceptable," he said, reaching towards Glimmer. Glimmer held his hand and put one hand on Entrapta's shoulder. 

When they landed, Glimmer stepped back. "Princess Entrapta, I have an empire now. I couldn't have done it without you, and I'm not going to be able to run all of this without a lot of help. If you need anything - teams of sorcerers, truckloads of biotech, anything - please ask." 

"I will," Entrapta said, and Glimmer vanished. 

"Entrapta," the clone in her arms said, "I fear I've created the wrong impression. You have nothing to apologize for. I owe you everything. Everything. And - now that it's really over, I - if - maybe - would like my name used. Could you, perhaps."

"Hordak," Entrapta answered, smiling. "We are triumphant. I have you, Hordak."

She felt him shiver. 

"Are you okay? Was it too much?" she asked. 

He shook his head. "Not too much. More than I deserve. I'm sorry. I can't stop." 

"Oh, Hordak, you don't need to apologize for reacting. I also - oh," Entrapta paused, slumping a little. "I am definitely feeling how long I've been awake now that I'm not surrounded by all those people. I want to curl up and sleep but I don't want you to feel trapped, and I don't want to let go of you."

"Come into my quarters," Hordak instructed. "Lock the doors. You can rest there. I can revel in having been brought out of that place, and possibly sleep also." 

Black fabric was draped over the walls, the floors, even parts of the ceilings. The space had been broken up into tiny rooms. There was nothing in the sleeping chamber but the black-swathed bed, the dark blue blankets, and a dimmed light. It was the farthest thing Entrapta could imagine from the clean lines and splendid, gleaming spaces of Horde Prime's ship. 

Entrapta wrapped herself in a blanket, curled a tendril of hair around Hordak's wrist, and was asleep in moments. 

~~~

When Hordak woke, Entrapta was beside him, watching him. 

"How all this happen?" he asked. 

"I was notified that you were gone." Entrapta looked down, sheepish. "I guess I lost my temper."

"What do you intend now?" Hordak asked. 

"We never talked about what would happen when we succeeded" Entrapta said. "I don't want you to feel like a prize I've stolen. if you want to go elsewhere, I'm not going to keep you without your assent."

"I thought I had been a prize, a conquest, a tool you used to win the favor of the Princess Alliance, and still I wore your mark where everyone could see it," he answered, looking down at the pink jewel in his collar. "I would be yours in any way you'd have me." 

"Oh! Oops. What did you think it said?" Entrapta asked. 

"Entrapta," he answered. "Maybe Dryl," he added, seeing her frown. 

"No, Hordak, it's not like that." She touched it, slowly. "This is the First Ones glyph for 'loved.' I should have said - I loved you then and I love you now." 

"Entrapta." He stared at her, awed. "Entrapta. Thank you." 

"There's more," she said, hesitant. "If you wanted, I could love you only ever like I love Imp and Emily - like friends, beings whose desires and abilities are deeply unlike mine. But. As it happens. I have received some data indicating that may not be what you want. my sources could be wrong."

Hordak opened his mouth.

"Wait," she said. "I know it feels impossible to say anything about that to someone you need, someone whose protection and assistance you require more than you can let yourself think of wanting them. I couldn't say it, when I was your lab partner and you seemed to be one of the only people on Etheria who tolerated me. 

"So, to be clear, it's cool if you don't do Etherian, um, physical intimacy, like, any more than Emily, and we're friends. it's cool if you  _ do _ want that, but not with me, and you step out with Sea Hawk -"

He held up a hand to stop her, laughing. "Sea Hawk. What led you to think - you have met him, yes?" 

"It's an example!" Entrapta protested. "You are free to pursue Sea Hawk, Princess Mermista, both of them, or somebody else. if you wanted, you and I could step out once, or a hundred times, and you could still ask me to stop, to let you go, and I  _ will _ . I want you, you might want me, but not hurting you is more important. If we start, I need to know you know I'll  _ stop _ anytime you want, and I'll still be your friend and build your armor." 

He blushed, looking down at himself. "I don't know how this works, not really, I'm not - experienced and I never anticipated anything of this nature. I cannot give you any political advantage whatsoever, my name does yours no favors. And -"

"Hey, no," she interrupted. "I wasn't asking about any of that. All else aside, do you want interaction of that sort with me?"

He nodded. 

Entrapta wrapped a hair tendril around his waist and another around the back of his head as Hordak put his arms over her shoulders. 

Entrapta pressed her lips to his, and Hordak kissed her back, pressing his body against hers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost tagged this "Entrapta has Big Daine Energy" but that seemed like it would be either nonsense or a total spoiler for this work. "Daine Loses Her Temper" is a chapter title from the novel _Emperor Mage_, in which a somewhat feral young woman raises an army of magic reanimated dinosaurs, with which she tramples some politics and tries to avenge her very troubled, garbage-plan-having, black-gowned, self-named[1] man. 
> 
> Entrapta was running around with a big bug skull as a helmet and we had an on-screen triceratops corpse. I half expected somebody else to get here first. 
> 
> If you didn't know the reference, don't worry, the author executed it very differently than I did and she wrote a bunch of other books that are slightly less concentrated idfic, depending on one's id. Also, that series is apparently going to become a [TV show](https://deadline.com/2019/11/lionsgate-little-women-producer-playground-plot-fantasy-world-with-tamora-pierces-tortall-universe-series-1202771376/). 
> 
> This was all unbeta'd and written very quickly so I'm sure it's super unpolished. This series will probably get a fluffy sequel. 
> 
> THANKS FOR READING!
> 
> [1] Hey so, about that, long ago and far away, there was a summer when my hair was dark blue and I picked new pronouns and I chose the name that's presently in my passport. The end of season 4 was a whole lot.


End file.
